Bayou project at Memorial Park is topic of Dec. 17 meeting

Robin Foster

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, December 1, 2013

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Bayou project at Memorial Park is topic of Dec. 17 meeting

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Harris County Flood Control District is back at the drawing board with its plan to repair erosion along a segment of Buffalo Bayou in Memorial Park that courses past River Oaks Country Club and into the venerable Ima Hogg estate.

The agency wants to use what it calls “natural channel techniques” to stabilize this segment of the bayou. Details of the proposal will be provided in an informational meeting to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 6-8:30 p.m. at Lamar High School, 3325 Westheimer Rd.

The project so far has been criticized in part due to the flood control district’s choice of a permitting process that avoided early-stage public input. The so-called “nationwide permit” has since been denied, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has recommended HCFCD apply for an individual permit instead.

The flood control district is partnering with the city of Houston and River Oaks Country Club on the proposed project, which is titled the Memorial Park Demonstration Project. The plan aims to repair erosion, reduce sediment deposition, improve water quality, preserve flood capacity and improve aquatic habitat.

According to HCFCD, the project covers about 6,800 feet of Buffalo Bayou adjacent to Memorial Park and the River Oaks Country Club, from the Hogg Bird Sanctuary/Bayou Bend parking lot to just south of Memorial Park’s Picnic Loop.

Groups including the Sierra Club, the Houston Audubon Society and the Endangered Species Media Project have advocated for more public input based on the project’s use of public funds and its impact to public lands in Memorial Park and the bird sanctuary.

In its press release announcing the Dec. 17 informational meeting, HCFCD says it is reaching out to the public in advance of the federal permitting process and any mandatory public hearings or comment periods associated with the project.

The meeting will give an overview of the proposed project beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by a question and answer session and an opportunity to provide comments.

Exhibits providing details of the project will be on display before and after the overview presentation, and Flood Control District staff and project experts will be available to answer questions. Materials from the meeting will be posted on the Flood Control District’s website.

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Residents can also submit written comments at the meeting and through the HCFCD website at www.hcfcd.org/mpdp.

For more information or to request accommodations for a disability, contact the flood control district at 713-684-4040 or online at www.hcfcd.org/mpdp.